Identifying a Data Source Overview

In a Master File, you identify the name and the type of data source in a data source declaration. A data source declaration can include the following attributes:

  • FILENAME, which identifies the name of the data source.
  • SUFFIX, which identifies the type of data source.
  • REMARKS, which allows you to provide descriptive information about the data source for display in graphical tools.
  • ACCESSFILE, which identifies the name of the optional Access File for a FOCUS data source. See Describing a FOCUS Data Source.
  • DATASET, which identifies the physical file name if your data source has a non-standard name.

You can identify a Master File profile (MFD_PROFILE) procedure to run during Master File processing. For more information, see Creating and Using a Master File Profile.

You can optionally specify a sliding date window that assigns a century value to dates stored with two-digit years, using these data source attributes:

  • FDEFCENT, which identifies the century.
  • FYRTHRESH, which identifies the year.